Local ice skaters have a new dream to go for the gold in the Olympics. For the first time in history, synchronized ice skating will be an Olympic sport. Heather Walker shines the 7Spotlight on South Florida skaters hoping to make Team USA.
These South Florida faces could be performing in the next Winter Olympics.
Anastacia: “The first time you’re like, it’s scary for you, but when you start doing it on ice, it’s fun.”
Figure skating has been a staple sport at the Winter Olympics, but in July, it was announced the 2030 Games in France will add a new event: synchronized ice skating — called Synchro9.
Margarita Tyler: “Synchro9 has everything in it. We have lifts, we have spins, we have jumps, and at the same time, they have to skate in unison.”
It’s a team sport where skaters are on ice all at once — doing the same routine in perfect unison. A sport Margarita Tyler has been coaching at Tropical & Sunshine Blades in Pembroke Pines for six years.
So when they heard the news they now have a shot at the Olympics:
Margarita Tyler: “My girls got crazy. I had like a 40 or 50 kids that I have in synchro. They all texted me, ‘What are we going to do? When are we gonna start?'”
Leaders in synchronized skating have been pushing to get it included in the Olympics for years.
Heather Page: “Now you can say: ‘I have dreams of being an Olympian,’ and before, you couldn’t say that as a synchronized skater, and I just think that’s so meaningful for the next generation.”
Eighteen-year-old Barbara Hidalgo has dedicated much of her life to the sport. She says this changes everything.
Barbara Hidalgo: “It feels great because, knowing that one day, maybe being able to represent this country, I would be honored to be in the Olympics and make a change for it.”
And she may pave the way for young skaters like 6-year-old Anastacia.
Anastacia: “I want to go to the Olympics so I could show everyone my new moves.”
A new sport creating new dreams for athletes training right here in South Florida.
Margarita Tyler: “My job and my group, my manager, my board, we’re going to push for that goal. It’s difficult, but we’re gonna try to do our best.”
Hoping years of hard work will pay off in 2030 under the Olympic flame.
Heather Walker, 7News.
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